Israel Putnam

Israel Putnam (7 January 1718-29 May 1790) was a Major-General of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Putnam was a veteran of the French and Indian War while serving in Rogers' Rangers, and he fought at the battle of Havana in 1762 during the Seven Years' War; Putnam was an experienced commander, and only a stroke in 1779 ended his military service.

Biography
Israel Putnam was born on 7 January 1718 in Salem, Massachusetts to the Putnam family, a wealthy family of landowners. He was the cousin of Ruth Putnam and nephew of Thomas Putnam, both of whom were leading accusers during the Salem Witch Trials. Putnam served in Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War, and he was saved from being burnt alive by the Mohawk by a rain storm and the intervention of a French Army officer. In 1759, he fought at the Battle of Fort Carillon and took part in the capture of Montreal in 1760; in 1762, a great feat was his surviving of a shipwreck during the battle of Havana in the Seven Years' War. He would end his British Army service durin Pontiac's Rebellion, relieving Detroit from the Native Americans.

In the aftermath of the Seven Years' War, Putnam opposed King George III of Britain's tax laws, and he left a comfortable farming life to join the patriots during the American Revolutionary War after the battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. At the battle of Bunker Hill, Putnam ordered his men not to fire on the British Army until they saw the whites of their eyes, encouraging accuracy. Putnam succeeded in killing or wounding 1,000 British troops in the battle, one of the finest hours of the war. Putnam's field command ended after the battle of Long Island, when George Washington decided to reassign him to a lesser command in the Hudson Valley. After the fall of Forts Clinton and Montgomery in 1777, Putnam was relieved of command but found innocent of any wrongdoing due to his lack of men, and in December 1779 a stroke ended his military career for good. Putnam died in Brooklyn, Connecticut in 1790.